President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan.
NBC News called the presidential election for Obama around 11:15 EST. The president sent a message on Twitter at 10:14 saying simply, "This happened because of you. Thank you."
The campaign Obama won was the most expensive presidential race ever, with both parties raising about $2.6 billion. The race was filled with negative campaigning on both sides, from President Obama attacking Romney’s business experience with Bain Capital to Romney lambasting Obama’s handling of the economy.
The race tightened during the final months of the campaign, with gaffes and surges from both candidates. After a weak performance after the Republican Convention, Romney surged following Obama’s listless performance after the first presidential debate. Nevertheless, the president cemented a lead in battleground states heading into Tuesday’s election.
Obama also claimed Michigan and the state's 16 electoral votes on a day when voter turnout was high in the Mitten State.
Obama's performance in Michigan wasn't necessarily surprising, considering Michigan voted for Obama in 2008.
Romney, despite being a Michigan native, never could overcome Obama.
Final electoral tally: Obama: 332, Romney 206 Some provisionals still being counted throughout US - but Obama UP by 3 million votes. This is NOT close.
We each have subjective values, that we've reached through our personal experience and idiosyncratic impressions of the world. How can my values be protected by someone in Lansing or DC? They are internal and they are my responsibility to express. How can the GOP claim to defend any sort of values? That is the worst sort of collectivism imaginable.
What in the world is a "hater"? Answer: Anyone who disagrees with a liberal or a minority.
The only thing Republicans could agree on over the last 4 years was to oppose everything the President tried to do, and criticize him for it. Did it work?
And on the bright side, about 8 new TEA Party members will be seated in the next session. So the best interests of the United States, which are small government, personal responsibility and fiscal conservatism, will be represented in even greater numbers.
If the culture of entrenchment within the populice doesn't subside, it will be difficult for Congress to act like grown-ups and get the job done. Everyone who worked on hard fought campaigns on BOTH sides are wonderful, engaged citizens. We must harness that energy towards coming together and pressuring our legislators to fulfill the ONE mandate that came out of the election: The Mandate of Compromise. Folks, starting emailing, calling and/or writing letters to all your Rep's and Senators. WE the people must get behind this. It will force them to ACTION - they must realize INaction is not an option. The Do-Nothing Congress has done nearly nothing the last 2 years, and literally been off since mid-September!! Time for all of us to get back to work!
Oh wait...I forgot. we are the lazy, fat idiots getting waited on and he must be in super shape, have a doctorate and work non-stop. He's perfect and anyone that isn't him or believes what he does are (see above). I love the generalizations people can make without any fact and use a Disney movie as his basis/reference. If you want to examine Disney, Thumper "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all" (from Bambi). In Cinderella, you have the prince who marries a maid. Lion King you have the terrible uncle who rules by promoting his own interests at the sacrifice of the other animals and of the land and when Simba comes back he is friends with all types of animals, they work together to restore the balance (diversity, environmental protection...). Disney movies are so delightful. I'm sure I can find examples from all. Disney doesn't pick on the poor, the weak, and those that are down. They bring issues to light and have done more so as the years have gone by. Don't forget they even did an animated version of Robin Hood which I'm sure Frack would detest the most...
Chuck- you should be a politician. No (unlike Romney) you didn't specifically say "liberal" or "democrat" but you insinuated and reaffirmed it more closely in your response to me. I'm sure you think all blacks, women and hispanics are "voting strictly to continue living a life of leisure at the expense of hardworking Americans". This attitude is why your guy lost. They need to get off the pedestal and come back to reality and their fellow man.
There are good and bad varieties of capitalism - just like any human endeavor, to Brad's point But government can do things that it wouldn't make a huge hunk of sense for a private enterprise to do... like taking on projects over a long haul, or investing in pure research.
I hear from Republicans all the time that it is the minorities dragging this country down and it makes me sick. My step mom happens to be Hispanic and works her butt off. Most of the people I personally know on welfare are white people. So it really bothers me when I see a large group of Republicans make such generalizations. Just as they claim we have no morals, or are stupid for voting against them. I think we should all have the right to vote whatever way without being called names. I think it is the comments made the big mouths in the republican party insulting large groups of people that helped sink them this time.
The Marxists are not coming to get you. Obama is not a foreign Muslim. The President has, despite the most obstructionist Congress in history, managed to achieve an (albeit slow) economic turnaround after the worst recession since the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Index has doubled. Taxes are the lowest they have been in decades. Job creation has been positive for over 50 months. Corporate profits are higher than they have ever been. The USA is respected more around the world than it was 4 years ago. Four More Years and we should be on the way to reversing the damage of the Bush years.
That's not what Bill Kristol is saying now - singing a different tune. Even the Conservative opinion-makers are changing on revenues -
Just curious(without trying to come off as a wacko to you), but you mentioned people have ensured 4 more years of "moderate, responsible leadership". Can you tell where the "moderate, responsible" part fits in with this President/Administration when under it's watch: Guantanamo is still not closed, Bush's Patriot Act extended, the NDAA has been imposed, drone strikes allowed in other countries that are continuing to kill innocent children, women and men, gun running at the border(Fast and Furious), proposed International ban on guns for all sovereign states/countries including the US....through the UN), still arming Al Qeada in the Libya and Syria, the Benghazi ordeal, continued groping and radiation of US citizens at airports by the TSA still allowed, increased police surveillance on civilians in the US, etc. Are these facts anywhere important to you, or anyone for that matter? If not, OK, your choice. I do agree with the President where he chose to nix DADT to show some sort of civility, and I'm not gay. In my opinion, Romney would've easily continued most of these same old bad policies and changed others, which is why I voted for neither. I hope I'm not going crazy, Jim.
I have been nauseated by many comments made here, the personal attacks, name-calling and silly remarks. Thanks for stating the case of the silent majority who agree with you Jim.
There's uncertainty over the fiscal cliff/curb, especially since they saw how willing the GOP was to drive full speed off the cliff in the 2011 debt debacle when they passed up a very good deal (from a Republican perspective) - the fallout of their stubborn obstruction was a credit downgrade. And there's the possibililty of another if they take their ball again and go home. (arms folded, foot stomping) CEO's don't have too much faith in GOP to come to their senses; that's why they came out the end of the White House meeting saying - a slight hike in upper level rates won't hurt, let's get this done and move on. "CEOs offer Obama support to avoid fiscal cliff" http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/14/15171606-ceos-offer-obama-support-to-avoid-fiscal-cliff?lite Everyone else is ready to fix the debt and get onto more jobs. GOP? Still wailing about taking a whole 14 days to investigate an international incident (Benghazi). Gee, 10+ years, and still waiting to hear why Americans had to die in illegal war in Iraq. Also waiting for the GOP outrage that there's never been answers, and why Condi Rice said: "We don't want the Smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." Answers and outrage, any day now, I'm sure. In the meantime, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Right??